23:28 12.09.2017

Motor Sich says seizure of shares doesn't affect its work

3 min read
Motor Sich says seizure of shares doesn't affect its work

A court ruling to seize a 41% stake in Zaporizhia-based PJSC Motor Sich as part of an investigation by the SBU Security Service of Ukraine into the legality of the sale of a controlling stake in the company has not affected its work, Motor Sich's top managers told Interfax-Ukraine.

"The enterprise is not the owner of the shares, and the court's decision to seize them could not affect its work. Currently, Motor Sich continues to operate as usual," a spokesman for the company's management told the agency on Tuesday.

Answering a question whether the court ruling, which was made public on Monday, September 11, could be appealed, the representative said: "In this situation, it is logical to assume a possible reaction to the seizure of the shares by foreign owners and investors of the company: it is likely that they can appeal against the seizure of the shares."

In this connection, the representative stressed that the company's position regarding the accusations brought by Ukrainian law-enforcement agencies was previously announced in a joint statement of the board of directors and trade unions of the company, and it has not changed to date.

"The acquisition and sale of Motor Sich shares in the stock market were handled by the enterprise in accordance with the procedure established by law, through licensed and state-controlled securities traders," the source said.

As Interfax-Ukraine reported, Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky District Court on passed a decision on September 7 to freeze 41.00087% of shares in PJSC Motor-Sich (Zaporizhia) owned by five offshore companies that are on the accounts of Dragon Capital custodian (Kyiv). This move was connected with suspicions of an attempt to withdraw the assets of the enterprise from Ukraine, which will lead to its liquidation.

"The pre-trial investigation established that since 2016 until the present time unidentified persons from among the incumbent and former officials and ultimate beneficial owners of Motor Sich, acting on a preliminary conspiracy to weaken the state by destroying the said enterprise, have carried out a number of transactions to sell the controlling stake in the company to foreign companies that intend to move the company's assets and production capacity outside Ukraine, which will lead to its liquidation and destruction," the document reads.

The court ruling authorized the seizure of 207,783 shares (9.99923%) owned by Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited (the Virgin Islands), 359,727 shares (17.31%) owned by Business House Helena, AG, 64,733 shares (3.115%) owned by Enfields Trade & Capital Corp, 27,086 shares (1.3%) owned by Granum Corporation (all in Panama), and 192,665 shares (9.27%) held by Waldo Trade Ltd (the British Virgin Islands).

As established by the investigation, after the Motor Sich share purchase and sale transaction handled in 2016, some 56% of the company's shares are indirectly held by a Chinese citizen, the owner of Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co.

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